Chapter 21
Day 7
We both feel a lot better in the morning. Fortunately, no one found us while I was asleep. When we open our packs to get breakfast, we find that we've run out of food completely. Shadow's in no shape to hunt, so I take over for the day.
"Some purple flowers grow on the edge of the riverbed. They'll have water inside," I tell him.
"All right," he says, "Sure you're okay hunting?" I nod.
"How hard can it be?" I go off into the forest, armed with my knife, and Shadow heads toward the chute, with his sword and our water bottles. I assure myself that finding food in the arena will be different than in the Training Center, but it's immediately clear that I'm an incompetent hunter. I meet Shadow back at the chute with one measly squirrel to show for my efforts. I admit to him that hunting isn't my strong point. I can almost hear the laughter from the Capitol.
We decide to cross over to the other side of the chute to find food. Even though we don't hear a thing, Shadow and I are especially wary when we walk through.
We fill up our water bottles and start to find some edible plants.
"Well, I don't recognize these berries," I say.
"Then don't eat them," says Shadow.
"But Luster showed me some characteristics that poisonous berries have. These don't have any of them. I don't know…" I say.
"I have an idea. Maybe we should—" I never get to hear his idea, because a tribute comes crashing through the trees. I won't get to my knife in time. I prepare for a horrible death by Cacelia's axe or Flash's swords, but it isn't either of them. It's a boy, one I don't recognize. He must be the tribute we forgot about last night. He's completely disheveled. There are twigs and leaves stuck in his hair, and his face is smeared with dirt and blood. His mind must be in the same shape, because he's screaming like crazy, even though he doesn't seem to be in any danger.
"Help! Please! Don't make noise! No noise! Help!" he shouts. A strange request, no noise, with all the racket he's making. Shadow and I try to calm him down, but he remains hysterical. Suddenly, there's a flash of metal behind him and he falls facedown on the ground.
Shadow keeps a lookout for incoming tributes while I fall to my knees and try to help the boy. I can't do anything, though, because there's a throwing star lodged in the back of his head. His cannon goes off. I look at Shadow worriedly, but he hasn't spotted any tributes.
I want to turn back. I want to turn back terribly. But I hear the faint sound of laughing, and boots crunching on the leaves, coming from that direction. Careers.
"We have to keep going," Shadow tells me.
"I don't know. I think I'd rather face the Careers than whoever's over there," I say nervously.
"Maybe 'whoever' has already left," he says. We keep walking. I'm badly shaken from our run-in with the tribute boy. Shadow seems anxious, looking around in every direction like someone's sneaking up on us. It seems like we've avoided running into whoever killed the boy we met when another flash of metal comes out of nowhere. I hit the ground hard and the throwing star buries itself in a tree. Two more come flying and pin Shadow to a tree by the sleeves of his jacket. I yank them out and pull him to the ground just as another star hits. After that, for almost a full minute, there's silence. We stand up cautiously, hoping the ordeal is over. We can finally see our attacker. It's the blind boy from District 5. And he didn't sneak up on us. He's sitting on the ground at the edge of the chute, only a few yards away, in plain sight. He's holding an open backpack, filled to the brim with throwing stars. How did he get those? He fled the Cornucopia battle empty-handed.
"I know you're still there. I didn't hear a cannon," he says. He turns around and smiles a crooked grin in what he thinks is our direction. When he doesn't hear anything, he turns back around.
"Fine. I'll just wait," he says. Shadow and I glance at each other, thinking the same thing. Don't make a sound. It wasn't hysteria. It was a warning.
Shadow begins to move again. It's amazing how silent he can be. He's definitely lived up to his name. I take one step and another star comes flying in my direction. What on earth? I was silent! Was I? Did I break a twig? Crack a leaf? Just in time, Shadow's leg swings around and knocks my feet out from under me. The star almost takes off the tip of my nose as it passes over my head.
"OW!" I complain when I hit the ground, and roll out of the way as two more throwing stars are directed at me.
"Leda!" yells Shadow. The boy is standing now, grinning wildly, throwing stars left and right.
"There's two of you? Perfect. I'll win this in no time," the boy says. I stand up and start to run. I scream as a star gets stuck in my arm, and hit the ground as another comes aimed at my head. Shadow runs into a tree as he tries to escape, but falls over a root before a bunch of stars embed themselves in the bark. He gets up and starts waving madly at me. He moves his mouth like he's talking, and I realize that he needs a distraction.
"Hey!" I yell at the boy from 5, "Over here!" He throws a whole volley of stars at me. I continue to make noise, ducking and dodging. I kick up leaves with my boots and shout at him. When I start to get cut and scratched by the stars that don't quite miss me, I know I can't keep dodging them much longer. Shadow sneaks up behind the District 5 boy with silent steps. He begins to raise his sword. All of a sudden, I'm aware of a familiar noise. I can barely hear it at first, but it grows louder as it gets closer. It's the sound of rushing water. I know Shadow hears it, too, because he lowers his blade. Without warning, he shoves the District 5 boy into the chute just as the wave rushes through. He's pulled under the water, and the cannon sounds.